Scrumper is a remake of a very early Spectrum game that I remember from childhood. The original game was written in BASIC and was never particularly enjoyable to play thanks to the extremely unresponsive controls. This new version attempts to fix that issue, as well as adding a bit of audiovisual gloss.

A “scrumper” (in UK slang) is someone who steals fruit (particularly apples) from other people’s gardens. The game puts you in the role of one such young rascal, who must dash about a Mr. Kipling-esque orchard grabbing apples as they fall from the trees. If the player allows three apples to hit the ground, it’s game over. Challenge your friends or try to beat your own high score! No two games are ever the same! Over 100 apples to collect! (And other phrases used by games marketeers who are struggling to find inspiration.)

The game was developed in my spare time over the course of about two weeks. It’s written in Python using the Pygame library (an SDL wrapper), which is partly why the game is so resource intensive and the file size is relatively large. I wrote the game for my own amusement – it’s the first thing I’ve programmed in several years and the source code is inelegant to say the least. Still, I hope folks have fun with it and perhaps it’ll tempt some of you to have a go yourselves.